Mr Weasley & Sharpies
by rainbow-washed-greyscale
Summary: Arthur Weasley has some fun at a muggle shop, sans muggle money. Confusion, hilarity, and plotting ensues. Molly's exasperated, Fred & George are mischevious, and Ron's just Ron. Some favorite HP characters, especially those fond of knitwear, contribute.
1. The Purchase

**Mr. Weasl****e****y and Sharpies**

"Molly, dear! I'm home!" Arthur shouted cheerfully, stepping inside the door. He was laden with bags, all with logos on them reading 'Staples. That was Easy.' "Where are you, love? Come and see what I've bought! Muggles have such odd necessities!"

"Goodness, Arthur, I told you not to go about bothering muggles all day…" Mrs. Weasley, Molly, came hurrying down the stairs with Ron and Harry on her tail. "All right then, show me what you've got."

"Yeah, Dad! Show us what you've got!" Ron added.

"Happily!" Arthur chirped. Reaching into the first bag, he pulled out a stack of CDs. "These are for putting music or words on that muggles type using a compyerator! They put one in a slot on the side, and then they've got a copy of whatever mumbo-jumbo they were working on! They're called disketties or something like that, I think."

Harry looked amused. "Actually, it's called a computer, not a compyerator. And these," Harry held up the CDs, "are called CDs or disks, not disketties. Dudley used them on his laptop, before he crushed it."

"Fascinating! These are called Post-it notes, and this is a roll of masking tape!" Arthur removed a large block of neon pink Post-its and a roll of blue masking tape from the hordes of items. "Maybe the masking tape is to make a disguise or something…"

Harry fought down a smile. "Actually, masking tape is used when muggles paint their houses, to makes sure paint doesn't get in the wrong spots. Sometimes, they use it to hang things on walls temporarily."

Now Ron was having trouble not laughing. "Dad, you've got everything wrong! The poor sales clerk! She must've been terrified!"

"Now Ronald… That wasn't very nice. I'm sure Arthur was perfectly pleasant to the employees, weren't you, Arthur?" Molly punctuated the last few words with a stern look in her husband's direction.

"Of course, my dear, of course! Wouldn't want muggles to think I was weird, now would I? After I show you one more thing, I'll tell you what happened." Arthur then withdrew a package of multicolored pens. "These," he said in a tone that couldn't be anything but complete excitement, "are called permanent markers. They turn anything you draw on with them to the color of the pen! It's incredible!"

Now Harry looked a bit concerned. "Mr. Weasley, that's right. These ones are called Sharpies. Aunt Petunia used them sometimes for all kinds of things. Once you use permanent markers on something, the color _never comes out_. Be careful with those. Don't draw on anyth-" Harry was cut off by Arthur beginning his account of the goings-on at Staples.

---

"Hello, there! I'm Arthur Weasley! What's your name, my dear?"

"Umm… I'm Angie…" said a frightened-looking cashier. "Welcome to Staples… I guess…"

"Why thank you! I've not been to many real muggle shops in my time. What do you sell here?" Arthur said with glee.

"Office supplies, mostly. Y'know… staplers, pens, paper, all that kind of stuff…" Angie said, popping a piece of gum into her mouth. "What, haven't you been to an office supplies store before? And what's a muggle?"

"Oh don't you worry about it, dear. I'll back in a jiffy!" Arthur hurried off to explore the rest of the store.

---

"The paper section was a bore. Lots of colored paper, but it was all one size. Very odd, really. I moved on to 'computer supplies.' There were lots of muggle technical gizmos and knickknacks, but a different section looked like lots of fun. Pens and Pencils. Red ones, blue ones, pink ones, green ones, fat tip, thin tip, high-lighters, something called Wite-out, the list goes on! I settled on Sharpies, though. They had the most colors. I was about to head back up to chat with Angie again, but I couldn't resist. I had to grab more things. Before I knew it, a young man named Brian was following me around towing an extra shopping trolley filled with items!

---

"Wow… you really like pens…" Angie stated with a bit of a smirk.

"Yes, I suppose I do!" Arthur laughed.

"Umm… do you want to sign up for a Staples card? You can save 15 on your first purchase… That'd be this one… I think…" said Angie, handing Arthur an application form to fill out.

"Certainly! That sounds like fun!" Arthur smiled, tearing open a package of his new pens to fill out the form.

"M'kay… Let's see… Your total comes to £1876.27. You want to put it on your new credit card?" Angie sighed, extending her hand to take the card.

"Yessiree! Here you are, miss!" Arthur surveyed his purchases, beginning to wonder what Molly would think when he arrived home.

sigh "Thank you for shopping at Staples. We hope to see you soon…" Angie looked bored, once again, and spoke as if reading from a script.

"Have a marvelous day, miss!" Arthur, followed by a sales clerk carrying bags of items, skipped out the door.

---

"Arthur!! How do you expect to pay £1876.27?! We don't have any muggle money!!" Molly yelled.

"Ah, that's where you're wrong, love. I've a marvelous idea, and in no time these wonderful rainbow pens will pay for themselves!" Arthur stated in a low voice, the nuance assuring Molly that everything would be alright.

"Oh, Arthur, sometimes I just don't know what to do with you…" Molly sighed. "Now what is this brilliant idea of yours?"

"Now hold on there, sweet, just go on upstairs. I think Ginny's calling you. I'll take care of everything" stated Arthur with a mischievous smile, an expression that did not occur very often, at least on Arthur's face. This was punctuated by Fred and George walking in the door with an enthusiastic, "What's Dad gotten himself into this time?"

"Hello there Fred, George! You're just in time to help me carry out my plan!" Arthur returned their greeting. "Interested?"

"Of course! We wouldn't miss one of _your_ plans for the world! Harry? Ron? You in, too?" the twins said in unison.

"I guess…" mumbled Harry.

"Sure. It'll keep my mind off… her…" sighed Ron. It was obvious he was thinking of Hermione.

"Fantastic! So here's the plan…"


	2. The Plan

Ginny charged down the stairs with her hair in a thousand little plaits. She looked around confusedly at all the piles of muggle-y materials, but just marked it up to one of her dad's kooky schemes with a shake of her head. "Oh Dad," she said with a sigh and a smile, "what have you gotten yourself into this time?"

"Nothing I can't handle, my dear. Don't you worry," Arthur said to Ginny with a mollifying smile. She still looked a bit suspicious, and insisted on helping. "Now then, here's my first idea. How about we print our own muggle money and use that!" Arthur looked pleased with himself and his 'brilliant' idea.

"Sorry to rain on your parade there, Dad," Fred said with a smile that implied he wasn't a bit sorry, and that he found his dad's idea amusing. "but it's illegal to print money unless you're part of the government, right Harry?"

"Yeah. You could go to prison for printing counterfeit money." Harry agreed.

"Ooh dear I don't want to sit in Azkaban for any length of time…" Arthur said quietly to himself.

"Well, you wouldn't go to Azkaban specifically, you'd probably go to a muggle prison. You would have committed a crime against muggles, not wizards." Harry explained.

"Alright… so option 1 failed… Option 2 is to return everything." A sad smile inched its way onto Arthur's normally sunny visage.

"Okay… let's just do that, then." Harry instantly regretted that those words had escaped his lips as everyone's faces fell. There were grumbles of disappointment and grudging agreement all around.

--- --- --- --- ---

Ok, reader, I know you will be very disappointed in this rather anticlimactic end to the story. That's why I'm not using it. Let's rewind a bit, and try this again, shall we?

--- --- --- --- ---

"Well, you wouldn't go to Azkaban specifically, you'd probably go to a muggle prison. You would have committed a crime against muggles, not wizards." Harry explained.

"Alright, since the first option failed, option two is to sell this stuff at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. They'd eat it up! Fred? George? You two up for it?" Arthur asked them, but the expression on his face showed that he knew they would make no objections.

"YEAH! Dad, that's brilliant!" Fred and George exclaimed in unison.

"Alright, it's settled then! Fred and George'll sell this stuff at their shop! But how do we get it there? Diagon Alley's a ways away, and we don't know how this stuff will react with floo powder." Ron pointed out.

"That's right, Ron… That didn't occur to me…" Arthur pondered the question. "How _do_ we get all this stuff to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?"

After a long stretch of silence, Harry yelled, "I've got it!" The incredulous looks that followed prompted the explanation.


	3. The Associates

"Well? Aren't you going to tell us?" George asked excitedly.

"Hold on a moment, hold on a moment, I'll be right back! There's something I've got to get! Or rather, someone!" Harry ran upstairs, returning a moment later, apparently having done nothing.

"What was that about?" demanded Ron. "Quit wasting ti-"

Ron's sentence was interrupted with a loud CRACK! Next thing everyone (except Harry) knew, a knitted monster was standing in the middle of the room. The countless socks, hats, gloves, sweaters, and scarves (all the work of Hermione), were unmistakable. It was Dobby (nearly every HP fan's favorite house elf)! The room rang with gleeful shouts of "DOBBY!"

"HARRY POTTER SIR!" Dobby cried, running at him, then launching himself into a gigantic hug, which isn't particularly big for someone who's only three feet tall. "It's so good to see you again, sir!"

Remembering his last letter from Hermione, Ron dug through his pockets and fished out one of the ugliest knitted hats known to wizardkind. It was the color of boiled asparagus that had been blended with raw salmon, overall a horrid greenish color with flecks of pink throughout. He handed it to Dobby, who squealed with delight and plunked it on his head.

"Thank you very much, sir." Dobby said politely, remembering his manners at the last second. He climbed up onto a chair and admired his reflection in the window.

"I didn't knit that thing," Ron stated rather obtusely. "Hermione sent it. She intended it for me, but it… um…"

"Clashed with your hair?" Fred added helpfully. "Or maybe you just can't appreciate a gift from your one true love?"

Ron shot a glare across the room to Fred, who mimed catching it like a blown kiss, and pinned it to his heart, pretending to swoon.

"Now that Ron's done being… Ron… let's move on to why Dobby's actually here. I asked him to come and help us transport Mr. Weasley's purchases to Diagon Alley with the aid of house elves. Dobby, would you please call some other elves to help? I'll call Creecher." Harry said.

"Of course, Harry Potter. I'm honored to help you, sir." Dobby disapperated with another loud CRACK.

"Creecher, come here please." Harry called, with a grimace.

Yet another loud crack sounded, and yet another house elf was standing in the middle of the room. This one, however, was neither cheerful nor clad head to toe in knitwear.

"Master called?" Creecher sullenly stated. It was apparent that he'd rather be anywhere but the spot where he was standing.

"Yes, I did. Creecher, I'd like you, along with other house elves to-" Harry's phrase was cut off by a series of loud cracks. Dobby and his recruits stood in the center of the room, encircling Creecher.

Harry attempted his sentence again. "Creecher, you and these other house el-" Once again his sentence was interrupted, this time by a green whoosh of 

flames in the Weasleys' fireplace. Out stepped Hermione, who ran to Ron with a hug.

Harry tried to speak again. "Creech-" This time, harry didn't even get past the first word before a furious Molly came charging down the stairs.

"ARTHUR WEASLEY! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! WHAT WERE ALL THOSE CRACK NOISES! I OUGHT TO-" Molly's enraged shouts ceased as she took in the room, where the number of beings had significantly increased since she had disappeared upstairs. Molly began to speak again, this time with the usual warmth in her voice.

"Hello Hermione! So lovely to see you dear! When did you get here? Arthur, why are there a number of house elves standing in our living room? Oh, hello Dobby! Ronald was telling me you needed more socks."

The prospect of additional socks caused Dobby to jump up and down with glee. After he finished jumping up and down, he turned to face Hermione. "These elves, miss, are all Hogwarts elves who were freed thanks to S.P.E.W." A chorus of mixed agreement and thanks confirmed his words.

Hermione smiled, and asked, "It's fantastic to see you all, but what are you doing here?"


	4. The Transfer

Hermione was quickly enveloped in the hugs of eight house elves, all wearing the Hogwarts crest on their tunics. "We came here to help Harry Potter, miss." Dobby explained in a muffled voice, from somewhere near her right leg.

"And what exactly what were you going to help Harry with?" Hermione addressed the sea of house elves still clinging to her. She looked at Harry suspiciously, then noticed the numerous Staples bags sitting around the room.

"I went to Staples!" exclaimed Arthur, but his happiness dissolved after a stern look from Molly. "Unfortunately, we don't have any Muggle money to pay for it. We decided to sell it all at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, but we have no way to get it all there. That is, until these house elves kindly agreed to help."

Following Arthur's explanation, Dobby and his comrades released Hermione, who promptly toppled over. Each house elf then grabbed a Staples bag. Eight loud cracks announced the departure of the elves.

Just as everyone's ears had recovered from the sound, another eight cracks sounded, and the house elves stood in the already crowded room once more. Without saying a word, each elf took up another bag, and disappeared again with the usual raucous.

Once again, the eight elves appeared, and then promptly exited the room, taking the final eight bags with them. This time, however, only one elf rematerialized. The sight of him stunned the waiting wizards. A muffled squeak escaped Hermione's lips as she rushed forward to catch the small form before the elf toppled to the ground.

"Merlin's beard!" exclaimed Arthur.

"What the bloody hell could have done this to someone completely encased in knitwear?" inquired Ron, for the elf slumped against Hermione's shoulder was Dobby.

"Whatever or whoever attacked Dobby must've been at our shop!" George had an odd mixture of excitement and fear on his face as he spoke.

"Such an unpleasant idea…" mumbled Molly under her breath.

Fred, George, and Arthur disapparated, their destination obvious to all, save for Ron who glanced around the room with a perplexed expression on his face.

"Where've they gone off to?" Ron wondered aloud, though no one answered him. When he tried to speak again, he was shushed from all sides. It was apparent the assembled witches and wizards longed to know what was going on, but no one else present, aside from Molly, could apparate.

"I can't stand this any longer!" Molly broke the silence with an outburst. Drawing her wand, she conjured a patronus and whispered a message to it. The ghostly figure vanished.

After a few minutes, the cloudlike form of a weasel, Arthur's patronus, poof-ed into existence in front of Molly.

"All is well, Molly dear. Bit of trouble at the shop, nothing to worry about. Stay at home. Will be back soon. Lots of love, Arthur." The weasel recited in Mr. Weasley's voice.

"Why can't we go help them, Mum?!" Ginny had been so quiet, her sudden outburst startled everyone present. "Fred and George get to go, why can't we?!"

"That's different, sweetheart. It's Fred and George's shop, that's why they get to go. Also, you can't apparate. How would you get there? Your dad could've brought you along with sidealong apparition, but still…" Molly's attempt to pacify Ginny only caused her face to tint pink with anger.

"It's because you think I'm too young, isn't it?!" Ginny accused. "You let everyone else do whatever they want, but I have to stay home and be a 'good little girl.' I'm sick of it!" Bursting into tears, she whacked Ron across the arm, then charged upstairs.

"I only want to protect you, darling!" Molly called after her daughter. Ron, bewildered, looked around, rubbing his sore arm.

"What'd she hit me for? She's lost her bloody mind!" Ron mumbled.

"Shut up, Ronald," Hermione hissed, elbowing him in the ribs. Ron winced with the discreet blow. Silence then filled the room. Suddenly, a loud crack pierced the air. Fred materialized in front of his mother, then promptly fell over. Concerned, Molly rushed to kneel beside him. Her worry dissolved when she realized he was consumed by a silent fit of laughter.

"Y-y-you're n-n-not going t-to b-b-believe th-this!" Fred struggled to say through his hilarity.

A mixture of "What?" "What happened?" "What's going on?" filled the room.

"Give him a moment! Give him a moment! Fred, dear, what's going on?" Molly queried of her son.


	5. The Break In

It took Fred a few minutes to control his laughter. Once he had calmed down, he was finally able to answer everyone's questions.

"Everything's alright. I'm not even going to try to explain. Mum, grab the floo powder. You all ought to see this for yourselves." Fred insisted.

Molly hurried to the mantle and grabbed the pot of powder. One by one, everyone took a handful, stepped into the fireplace, and shouted, "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!"

Molly and Fred were the last to get to the shop, as they had waited for everyone to go through the fireplace successfully. Two pops announced their arrival. Molly had brought Dobby with her, carrying him in her arms, and she gently set him in a chair.

The front room of the store was packed with wizards and house elves alike. Dobby's accomplices rushed over to see if he was alright. Everyone else was standing around three forms tied together, sitting in the center of the shop.

"Malfoy? Crabbe? Goyle? What the bloody hell are you doing here?!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Ginny! Mind your language!" Molly scolded

"Your mother's right, Ginny. Watch your tongue," Ginny looked indignant at her parent's scolding. "Anyway, these young lads decided it'd be a good idea to break in and bash things up a bit. You see how well that worked. Before they got started, the house elves had arrived. They beat up Dobby, but he still managed to disapparate. Fred followed him to tell you what was going on." Arthur narrated the goings-on that everyone else had missed.

"What was so funny, then?" Ron asked. "When Fred arrived, he couldn't speak 'cause he was laughing too hard!"

The reminder of the funny incident set Fred and George laughing once again.

"The funny thing, Ron, sir, was that these young masters were ambushed by my friends." Heads turned as Dobby answered Ron's query.

"You! You filthy little animal!" Draco spat at Dobby. "You're a spineless, worthless, beast! How dare you and your fellow worms attack us?!"

Tears welled up in Dobby's unusually large eyes. Seeing this, Hermione rushed over and enveloped his small form in her arms. Dobby's sobs were muffled both by his many hats and Hermione's fluffy hair.

"Listen here, Malfoy. If any-" Harry's speech was cut off by sheer astonishment as Ginny stepped forward and slapped Draco across the face.

"Draco Malfoy, you are a worthless pile of dragon dung. How dare you be so cruel to Dobby! He's a much better person than you or your thugs will ever be!" Ginny was furious. Her face had turned pink, and her hands were clenched into fists at her sides.

"Who are you and what did you do with Ginny?" George asked his sister in a half-joking, half-serious manner.

"I just don't like people being mean to my friends." Ginny replied simply.

After speaking, Dobby had climbed back onto his chair. Hermione was still kneeling next to him, but she had stopped hugging him. Looking down, Hermione saw blood on her palms and realized Dobby was still injured.

"Mrs. Weasley, would you see what you can do for poor Dobby? He's still bleeding." Hermione requested.

"Of course, love," Molly answered kindly. "Let me see you, dear. What's wrong here?" She added, this time speaking to Dobby.

It took the house elf a couple minutes to remove his knitted clothing, and once finished, Dobby was several inches thinner and several more inches shorter.

"It's my head and my arm, mistress. Master Malfoy whacked me with somethin' heavy. He managed a coupla blows before I got away." Dobby explained. Sure enough, an inch-long gash stretched across Dobby's forehead, and a deep purple bruise had spread across his left forearm.

"Those are easy enough to fix." Molly stated cheerfully. With a wave of her wand, Dobby's skin looked good as new. The wound on his forehead healed back together, and the purple tinge to his arm faded.

"Oh, thank you very much, mistress." Dobby replied, hugging Molly's leg, as that was all he could reach of her. She bent down and hugged the elf to the best of her ability. Dobby then climbed back up onto his chair.

"Now the question is what to do with our friends, masters of breaking and entering. Any ideas?" Harry asked.

Fred and George proffered ideas like hanging them by their ears, making them clean up after Fang, Hagrid's dog, taking them to the dementors, and other nonsensical suggestions. To everyone's surprise, Ron came up with the best solution.

"Dad, you know where Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Crabbe, and Mr. Goyle work in the ministry, don't you?" Ron inquired.

"I certainly do, but how could that help?" Arthur's confusion was plain.

"Why don't we just turn them into their parents? They could do a much better job punishing them than we could." Nods of agreement followed Ron's suggestion.

"Wow, Ron. I had no idea you'd ever say something intelligent." Fred teased.

"Yeah, little brother, gold star!" George added.

"Aw, shut up you two." Ron mumbled.

"Actually, it's a brilliant idea." At Hermione's vote of confidence, Ron's face flushed; even his ears turned pink. "Mr. Weasley, can you send an owl to the ministry?"

"I certainly can. Won't be a moment." Arthur disapparated then reappeared a few minutes later. "Done and done. They'll be here mo-"

Arthur's sentence was cut off by three cracks, announcing the arrival of Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle's parents.

"What are you boys doing here?" Lucius Malfoy's cold voice resounded through the room.

"We were just-" Draco tried to explain, but Lucius didn't give him the chance. He undid the bindings holding the three boys together and disapparated with a firm hand on his son's arm. Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle did the same.

"Well, that was easier than I thought it'd be." Harry admitted.

"Let's start stocking the shelves." Hermione suggested. "Fred, George, when does the shop open today?"

"In just over an hour," they replied. "We better change into our shop robes." The twins stepped into the back room. When they returned, they were each wearing a set of bright magenta robes.

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was a flurry of activity as everyone rushed around, stocking the shelves with Mr. Weasley's purchases. The only things that didn't go on the shelves were his beloved Sharpies. When Molly tried to place them on a tabletop, Arthur picked them back up, and placed them behind the register.

"Molly, darling, can I keep some of it? Please?" Arthur implored. "It's just all so fascinating." With a sigh, Molly nodded, and her happy husband ran around, grabbing a few of each item.

Just as everything was ready to be sold, a clock somewhere in the shop chimed. The lights turned themselves up, and the sign on the door flipped from "Sorry, we're closed," to "Sorry, we're open."

"Here we go! Let's see how this works!" Fred said enthusiastically as the first swarm of witches and wizards rushed through the door.


	6. The Lucky Cat

Within moments, the store was stuffed with students. The students familiar with muggle life looked oddly at the highlighters, tape, pencils, and eraser caps. Some of the younger students were amused by the magnets, trying to stick them to various people and objects. Fred and George were kept busy all day, pulling in bags and bags of galleons, sickles, and knuts. Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny, instead of lurking about the shop, went to explore the rest of Diagon Alley.

"Hello there, kitty. You're a marvelous color." Hermione bent to pet a golden cat that'd begun to wind itself around her feet in front of a shop selling owls, cats, and other animals.

"He's certainly friendlier than the mangy ginger mess she already has," Ron murmured to Harry. He didn't speak quietly enough, however, to avoid earning a glare and a stomp on the foot from Hermione.

"I certainly am a lovely little puss. Won't you take me home?" The small voice sounded as if it came from the cat, who'd found its way into Hermione's arms. With a start, all four wizards looked up to see an old woman, not much taller than Ginny. Her mischievous smile and small flick of her wand gave away her clever trick.

"What's his name, mum?" Hermione was clearly taken with the feline, and began searching her pockets for her purse.

"_Her_ name is Felix, miss. The shade of her coat reminded me of a luck potion," was the shopkeeper's reply.

"Oh, Felix Felicis?" Harry's bored expression fell away at the mention of a potion he recognized. "That's neat stuff,"

"Very good, lad," the shopkeeper praised. She turned then to address Hermione, who still hadn't let go of the sunny animal. "She's yours for only 12 galleons,"

"Wonderful! She's mine. Let me just find my purse…" Hermione beamed, and shifted Felix into one arm as she dove deeper into her pockets. "Here we go!" She raised a victorious fist, clenched around a purple velvet sack.

"Let's hop on inside so you can count things out," the shopkeeper suggested. "Oh, my dears, I didn't catch your names. Who did you say you were?"

"We didn't," Harry spoke, following the rest of the group into the shop, "I'm Harry. This is Ron, Ginny, and the one purchasing your cat is Hermione."

"Lovely to meet you all. I'm Kinsella Lovegood."

"Lovegood? Any relation to Luna?" Ron inquired. He had begun poking around the dusty shop, and continued to do so as he spoke.

"Luna is my granddaughter. I'm Xenophilius' mum. Are you friends of hers?" the old woman's warm smile bore a distinct resemblance to that which Luna wore so readily.

"We're not in her house at school, but we know her." Ginny answered. "Hermione, almost done? We ought to get back to Mum and Dad."

"Here you are. 12 galleons," Hermione's neat stack of gold coins sat on a counter. Scooping Felix up once more, the four friends exited the shop.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Lovegood!" The chorus of voices made Kinsella smile as she stood in the doorway, waving to them.

Before Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny had made it far up the street, Hermione's new furry charge began to wriggle, hiss, and be generally unpleasant. With a short squeal, Hermione dropped the cat to the brick sidewalk.

"Bloody cat," Ron cursed as he began to chase after it. His friends followed him close behind.

They didn't have to chase Felix far, as she sat contentedly on the steps of Gringotts Bank, licking a paw. Ron bent over, plucked the golden wad of fuzz up, and gave it a gentle bop on the head.

"Ron! Don't do that! Be nice to her! She was probably just frightened!" Hermione scolded her friend as she accepted the cat.

Ginny and Harry stood just behind Hermione, Harry stepped forward absentmindedly and began to stroke Felix gently on the top of her head. Ginny, however, had a funny expression on her face. Walking over to a window, she pointed to a small sign.

"Guys, look at this! Your new cat might've solved our problems, Hermione."


End file.
